WASHINGTON, June 16 (UPI) -- Some U.S. cities are seeing an increase in the number of bank robberies that might be linked to a down economy, a security expert says.
San Francisco, Los Angeles and Houston are among those that are experiencing a hike, USA Today reported Monday.
A spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department told the newspaper that bank robberies jumped from 20 in the first months of 2007 to 32 for the same period this year.
In Houston the number of robberies doubled last year and police said they expect the 2008 total to be even higher.
With 189 robberies recorded, Los Angeles is ahead of last year's number for the same period.
"The economy is driving some of this," Chris Swecker, chief security officer for Bank of America and former assistant director of the FBI's criminal division, told USA Today.
Swecker says Bank of America is studying the interplay between increases in bank robberies, foreclosures, defaults and unemployment, the newspaper said.
